No seconds for Kligerman this time

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Driving a truck team owner Tom DeLoach described as “magic,” Parker Kligerman finally shed the bridesmaid tag, winning Saturday's fred's 250 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway under caution after nearly half of the remaining NASCAR Camping World Truck Series field wrecked behind him.

Johnny Sauter pushed Kligerman to the lead on the white-flag lap, and Kligerman held the top spot when a massive wreck on the backstretch forced NASCAR to throw the yellow before Kligerman reached the finish line.

The victory was Kligerman's first after five second-place finishes over the past two seasons. It was a vindication of sorts for a driver who was jettisoned from his ride with Brad Keselowski Racing and found a new home with Red Horse Racing.

“When you get so close to something so many times, you can pick two paths,” Kligerman said of his second-place runs. “You can doubt yourself, you can doubt the situation you're in, you can doubt everything around you. Or you can keep your self-confidence and look at the positive of what you did to get yourself in that position each and every time and say, 'Hey, if I can do that, it's just a matter of time.'

Sauter ran second, followed by James Buescher and Ty Dillon. Timothy Peters came home fifth. Dillon maintained a one-point lead over Buescher in the series standings.

Buescher was just as happy to escape Talladega with no change in the championship battle, especially after saving his truck from spinning out of control on the next-to-last lap.

Sprint Cup: Kasey Kahne won the pole at Talladega Superspeedway, the fourth race in NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Kahne's lap of 191.455 mph earned him the top starting spot for today's race. Ryan Newman qualified second with a lap at 191.145, giving Chevrolet a sweep of the front row.

“It means I'm going to start first, that's it,” Kahne said. “I'll try to lead that first lap. If we're up there, we'll try to stay up there.”

Two-time defending race winner Clint Bowyer qualified third and was surprised by the strong run. He said he expected to qualify poorly, and the good starting spot will force him to change his race strategy.

Three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart qualified fourth, and Greg Biffle was fifth to put four Chase drivers in the top five.

Formula One: Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel claimed pole position for the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix in Suzaka, qualifying ahead of teammate Mark Webber. Vettel, a two-time winner in Japan, secured his fourth consecutive pole at Suzuka and will be in a good position in today's race to further erode the championship lead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

Vettel won the previous race in Singapore and is just 29 points behind Alonso in the standings with six races left. The German has always performed well at Suzuka, winning here in 2009 and 2010 and taking third place last year to wrap up his second consecutive drivers' championship.

NHRA: Funny Car title contender Jack Beckman set a national record en route to his fourth No. 1 qualifying position of the season in the Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals at Mohnton, Pa. After a dominating performance Friday, Beckman powered his Dodge Charger to a time of 4.003 seconds in his first qualifying attempt Saturday.

That was quick enough to certify his 3.989 effort from Friday as an NHRA national record. Beckman, who trails series points leader Ron Capps by 17 points, will earn a 20-point bonus if he hangs onto the record following the completion of today's eliminations.

David Grubnic led the Top Fuel qualifiers, Jason Line topped the Pro Stock field, and Eddie Krawiec led in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

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